Sept. 7, 2011
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Women's Soccer Weekly Notes | Become a Fan of SDSU Women's Soccer on Facebook
Game Week Reset
Columbia (0-2) at San Diego State (3-2-1)
Friday, Sept. 9 | 1:30 p.m. PT | SDSU Sports Deck
Long Beach State (4-2) at San Diego State (3-2-1)
Sunday, Sept. 11 | 2:30 p.m. PT | SDSU Sports Deck
Aztec Story Lines
- San Diego State concludes its season-long six-game homestand this week with matches against Columbia and Long Beach State. The Aztecs will face the Lions on Friday at 1:30 p.m. PT, before playing host to the 49ers on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. PT.
- SDSU is coming off a 0-1-1 week after tying Central Florida and losing to Alabama. With the performance, the Aztecs fell out of the Soccer America Top-25 Poll. San Diego State was ranked No. 22 last week. The Aztecs, however, are receiving votes in the Soccer Times poll this week.
- Despite the sub-par weekend, the Aztecs find themselves ranked fifth in the NSCAA Pacific Region Poll. SDSU is ranked behind Stanford, UCLA, Oregon State and California, but is ahead of Oregon, Washington State, Arizona State, USC and Mountain West foe New Mexico.
- The Aztecs scored a season-high four goals in the 4-4 draw with Central Florida. SDSU, which trailed 3-1 in the second half, rallied and took the lead before settling for the tie. Cat Walker scored twice, the second of which was on a penalty kick, and Tiffany Hurst and Haley Locker each added single tallies.
- Haley Palmer assisted on Cat Walker's first goal in the game vs. UCF, which gave her a team-high-tying two assists for the season. Later, Soledad Gomez picked up the assist on Tiffany Hurst and Haley Locker's goals. Palmer, Gomez and Hurst share the team lead in assists.
- Against Alabama, the Aztecs were shut out for the first time in 2011 and for the first time since Nov. 4, 2010, when No. 18 BYU blanked San Diego State in the semifinals of the 2010 MWC Championship. That was also the last time the Aztecs lost at SDSU Sports Deck. San Diego State was unbeaten its previous four and was 8-1-1 in its last 10 home dates prior to the loss.
- The 1-0 defeat to the Crimson Tide was especially hard to swallow considering the Aztecs dominated each statistical category and controlled the final 77 minutes of the game. SDSU finished with an advantage in shots (21-3), shots on goal (8-2) and corner kicks (8-0). In fact, San Diego State outshot Alabama, 12-0, in the second half and did not allow a Crimson Tide shot attempt in the final 49 minutes, 10 seconds.
- The Aztecs rank in the top two of every offensive category in the Mountain West. SDSU is second in points (25), goals (9) and goals per game (1.50), and tied for second in shots (90), assists (7) and assists per game (1.17).
- Cat Walker enters this week's action ranked in the top two in the league in six different categories. The senior is first in shots (33) and shots per game (5.50), and tied for first in goals (4), and ranks second in points (8), points per game (1.33) and goals per game (0.67).
- The trio of Soledad Gomez, Tiffany Hurst and Haley Palmer are tied for third in the Mountain West in assists (2) and tied for fourth in assists per game (0.33).
- San Diego State is meeting Columbia for the first time in school history on Friday.
- The Aztecs and 49ers will get together for the seventh time in the history of the series. SDSU owns a 5-1 lead in head-to-head match-ups and won the last meeting, 2-1, in San Diego in 2009. San Diego State is 3-0 vs. LBSU in games played on Montezuma Mesa. Long Beach State's lone victory in the series occurred in Long Beach and resulted in a double-overtime 1-0 decision in 2005.
Opposition Notebook
Columbia
Columbia, out of the Ivy League, is 0-2 this season after falling to Hofstra, 2-0, and St. John's, 1-0, this past weekend at the St. John's NYC Classic... In the match vs. the Pride, goalkeeper Lillian Klein recorded seven saves, including six in the second half, to keep the Lions in the game... Klein did not make a save in the outing vs. the Red Storm, but anchored a defensive unit that limited St. John's to just five shots; Columbia attempted nine shots and owned a 7-5 advantage in corner kicks... Ashlin Yahr and Chelsea Ryan were named to the all-tournament team at the conclusion of the event... Columbia will travel to Cal State Fullerton for a Sunday match following its date with San Diego State.
Long Beach State
Long Beach State, the No. 6 team in the NSCAA West Region, carries a 4-2 record into this week's action having won two straight after convincing home wins over Princeton (W, 3-1) and Hawai'i (W, 3-0)... The 49ers have played three games on the road and have gone 1-2... LBSU won at No. 25 USC, 2-1, but lost 3-2 at Milwaukee and 2-1 at No. 12 Marquette... Nadia Link, the Big West Offensive Player of the Week, leads the team with six goals, three assists and 15 points; Shawna Gordon ranks second on the team in goals (3) and points (7)... Kaitlyn Gustaves has started all six games and has a GAA of 1.17, while making 17 saves... Long Beach State is set to play host to California on Friday before heading south to San Diego State for Sunday's tilt.